Biden and Trump win CT primaries; Many ‘uncommitted’ votes

Tom and Lorna Dwyer of West Hartford cast their votes for the presidential primary. CREDIT: SHAHRZAD RASEKH / CT MIRROR

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Connecticut’s presidential primary was moved up weeks earlier than previous election cycles, but not early enough to draw the interest of many voters well aware that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump had already clinched their parties’ nominations.

With more than 95% of the precincts reporting, Biden won 85% of Democratic votes and Trump won 78% of Republican votes Tuesday, identical to the results in 2020, when the Connecticut primary also came after both men already were the presumptive nominees. The turnout was less than 10%.

The Associated Press called both races for Biden and Trump minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Connecticut was one of four states holding primaries, along with neighboring states New York and Rhode Island as well as Wisconsin.

Dissent among Democrats in Connecticut was registered by the 11% of voters who cast votes for uncommitted delegates. On the Republican side, displeasure with Trump was shown primarily by the 14% of the vote cast for Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign a month ago.

State leaders were hoping Connecticut would have more influence in presidential primaries than it has in the past decade. Since 2012, Connecticut held its primary on the last Tuesday in April, with the exception of 2020, when it was postponed until August due to the pandemic.

Still, the primaries were a gentle test for Connecticut’s first foray into in-person early voting, where people could cast their vote early without an excuse. There were nearly 18,000 votes cast ahead of Tuesday, according to the Secretary of the State.

The GOP ballot listed Trump and three candidates no longer running: Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida; Haley, former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador; and Ryan Binkley, a Texas clergyman. DeSantis had nearly 3%; Binkley, less than 1%.

The Democratic ballot listed Biden and three others: Marianne Williamson, who ran four years ago; Dean Phillips, who dropped out on March 6; and Cenk Uygur, a Turkish-American politician. Williamson had 2%; the others less than 1%.

Uncommitted was an option in both the Democratic and Republican primaries in Connecticut, but activists have largely used it as a vehicle in states across the country to send a signal about their frustration surrounding Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

The “Vote Uncommitted CT” campaign started in earnest several weeks ago, motivated in part by the movement that began in Michigan’s presidential primary in February. More than 100,000 Democratic primary voters in Michigan went with uncommitted, ultimately nabbing two delegates.

A coalition of groups pushing for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza said they had dozens of volunteers urging voters in Connecticut to vote uncommitted in the Democratic Party. They surpassed their goal on Tuesday night of getting at least 6,000 people to vote uncommitted in the state.

Organizers noted that the push in Connecticut to protest against Biden was easier than the Tuesday primary in New York, where the state does not have an uncommitted ballot line. Activists in New York were urging voters to leave their ballots blank.

“I think any amount of votes against an incumbent should be a big warning sign. I think ignoring the Democratic base is a very dangerous strategy for them to take,” said Sam Pudlin, who was working with organizations on this effort.

Gov. Ned Lamont was dismissive of the campaign to cast votes for uncommitted in the Democratic primary to signify displeasure with Biden’s support for Israel after the terrorist attack by Hamas and Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

“They’re wasting their vote, and they are wasting my time,” Lamont said. “The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who stay neutral or can’t make up their minds at a time of moral crisis.”

This story was published earlier by the CT Mirror, a partner of the nonprofit States Newsroom network, which includes the Florida Phoenix.

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